


three drops of truth & one drop of fantasy

by mugianon



Category: One Piece
Genre: ASL, ASL Brothers, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Childhood Friends, Gen, OOC, One Shot, Out of Character, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-07 03:32:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18612253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mugianon/pseuds/mugianon
Summary: Once again, he has to wake up to the same old cold truth.





	three drops of truth & one drop of fantasy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [toorus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/toorus/gifts).



> marked as canon divergent because i don’t think we know how ace told sab abt his name & i wanted to make SURE it doesn’t confuse anyone :") !
> 
> enjoy! 💌

It’s been a few weeks since he’s seen Luffy; after the events of Dressrosa, his memory had been coming back randomly. Really, it was at the most random times, but at least, it was now a stream of events, pretty much constant noise & giggles at the back of his head.

 

He didn’t mind, never did.  
These moments were everything he cherished.

 

“Sab?”

 

Five more minutes?

 

“Sab.”

 

Come on, just five more minutes. Just that.

 

“Sabo.”

 

 _What?!_  
The blond roughly inhales before turning on his “bed” & facing his brother; the other kid is sitting down, arms crossed, the features on his face are hard.  
_Why does he seems angry._

 

“Ace it’s... it’s like 4am!” grunts Sabo, rubbing his eyes, “Why the hell did you—“

 

“Luffy’s asleep... & I wanted to talk.”

 

“At 4 fucking am,” he replies dryly. Ace seems to brush it off with a chuckle... and shaking hands.  
Without realizing, Sabo grows impatient, worried about his brother’s behavior.

 

“What is it then?” he asks, sitting up & facing the raven, “What’s got you thinking so hard?”

 

“Am not,” says the idiot facing him, cheeks puffed; he’s trying to seem angry, always is, nevertheless, eyes always betray you, “It’s about me.”

 

About him... what’s so bad about Ace it’s making him fall into defensive mode?! Does it have something to do with—

 

“It’s about my name.”

 

Immediately, the blond shakes both his hands & head, then offers him a small, still sleepy smile. _You don’t have to_ , it says, _I’ll listen_ , it whispers, _Breathe_ , it pleads.  
Sabo decides to place the blanket around them, he stretches his hand to Ace with it & the raven seems to agree before he buries himself in the warm spot, just next to his beloved friend.

 

“'Portgas D. Ace' is my name,” finally mumbles the freckled boy, “but it’s also not... really my name? not my full name? it’s— UGH.”

 

A muffled 'thud' later & Ace has sunk even deeper in the blankets, head first into the dark dunes of soft fabric.

 

“It’s complicated, I get it Ace.”

 

“No you don’t.”  
The words come out as cloaked & rough, but they lack the menacing presence Ace seems to aim for.  
The blond falls back, arms folded behind his head. Just like a machine, it is fuming with thoughts, ideas, apprehension.

 

There’s a sudden yank at his side & Ace is sitting up, unable to look Sabo in the eye, instead he stares at the wall, his back straightened, bottom lip quivering.  
& Sabo’s whole world’s about to shatter.

 

“Promise me. Sabo, promise me you won’t hate me.”

 

 _Why would I?_ the blond asks himself, _How could I?_

 

Thus, he nods silently, watching Ace draw in a sharp breath before his expression turns blank. Yet his eyes betray him again.

 

“Gold,” he finally sneeres, eyes glued to the wood a few feet away from them, his voice shaking, “Gold D. Ace. That’s my name.”

 

Oh.

 

  
“Gold D. Ace,” barely repeats sabo, the faint whispers reaches his brother who still refuses to acknowledge him, eyes wide as he straightens himself to get a better look at the other boy, “You’re—“

 

  
“Not his son,” cuts in Ace, frowning. Finally he looks downright scary; Sabo swallows, his heart skips a beat - Ace has never looked this... terrifying before. It’s as if he wanted the whole world to burn before his eyes, what’s - who’s - sitting next to him is told to be a monster, a true demon.

 

Sabo can see it; he can see the whole deal, the fact that Ace, this kid is just an unfortunate maelstrom of power.  
& Sabo can’t - never will - picture it. His brother is no monster. His brother’s a brave kid with bad vocabulary who would die before admitting he loves them.  
That’s Ace.

 

  
The stubborn & tenacious adventurer, the reckless little youth, the magpie. That’s Ace. Portgas D. Ace, the 10 years old little guy he loves & considers family.

 

  
Just as he’s about to open his mouth, just as he’s about to comfort the freckled boy next to him, to reach out to him, Sabo turns into a shadow oh himself.  
His hand passes through his brother’s arm, feeling panic settle in his stomach & creep up on him like the grim reaper, the blond takes in a sharp breath before pushing himself to his feet & face Ace.  
The kid is staring at the wood, his features soon twisted as he just doesn’t know what to do.  
His quivering bottom lip starts shaking just as he buries his head into his knees, visibly left alone, by himself.

 

  
As if he’d been talking to a ghost, whispering to the hut & making himself vulnerable enough so that the world could hear him tear up.

 

  
The dream seems to shatter, everything crumbles next to the missing tooth kid. In a desperate attempt to get a grip on it, Sabo calls out for his brother.  
The raven haired kid then breaks.  
Alone. Again.

 

  
Like he had to do before he found him, another lost 10 years old little rat with big dreams & ambitions.

 

  
Once again, he has to wake up to the same old cold truth.  
“I wasn’t there Koala. I left them.”

 

The dream ended 10 years ago; yet, Sabo still doesn’t seem to be ready to wake up.

**Author's Note:**

> tysm for reading!! ♥️


End file.
